Hamilton Business Owners

To download Marketing Tool Kit Click Here.

For many years Hamilton was the leader when it came to innovative retail concepts and the latest in restaurants and cafes.  It was the first “eat street” in the region and whether it was a business meeting over great coffee or a special night out, Hamilton was the place to head. Consequently, the area received the lions share of Newcastle’s recreational shopping and dining dollar. However, changes in the Newcastle market mean that Hamilton is at real risk of losing its status and becoming second or third choice for locals and visitors.

While the mix of Businesses at Hamilton has remained strong, in recent years other precincts have been developing their product mix and are now challenging Hamilton’s dominance in the market. The Hamilton Business District Committee realized it is vital that Hamilton Business owners work together to maintain their Market Share. It is important to understand where Hamilton and similar precincts fit in the overall mix of Newcastle shopping and dining.  Newcastle has a very strong lifestyle focus.  It has been described as a town where people work to live not live to work!  Time spent enjoying the beaches or with family and friends is important and valued.  Any location that offers recreation, good food and browsing is high on a Novacastrian leisure time list.  Hamilton is now competing with other precincts who offer similar shopping and eating out experiences.

Hamilton’s future success could also be affected by eating out trends.  Diners in Newcastle are no different to restaurant goers in any major city.  They want to try the latest, the newest, the hippest.  Even though they still visit their “favourites” frequency can drop as they sample the latest venue.  Hamilton needs to attract new visitors and reinforce to existing visitors that it is still a great place to be seen!

The definition of local may have changed. Hamilton is currently benefiting from a trend which has seen older couples and young professionals move into the area attracted by the cafes and lifestyle of the area.  This new style of resident needs to feel that they are experiencing the best Newcastle has to offer and want to justify their decision to relocate. In 2006 it is also recognised that shoppers differentiate between day to day and recreational shopping.  Whilst day to day shopping is all about familiarity and routine recreational shopping is all about “new and different”.  It was understood that a key issue for Hamilton was a clear market position.  There is no logo or positioning statement currently associated with the precinct so locals, existing and potential visitors are left to work out for themselves why they should visit the area.  This would not be a critical factor if there were no competitors.  But Darby Street and Honeysuckle have both developed strong positions which relate clearly to their target markets.

Over the last few months The Hamilton Business District Committee has been extremely busy with a range of initiatives designed to address the above issues. The committee has developed new branding, new promotional brochures, new business directories, a market action plan and a marketing tool kit for local businesses.(Note: Our committee received a grant from the NSW Department of State and Regional Development to assist with these initiatives.)

Cheers
Ian Mackey
Hamilton Coordinator